Hard work important to stay consistent: Jaiswal on Ranji comeback

BENGALURU: He is all of 20 but Yashasvi Jaiswal knows the art of making a strong comeback statement, like he did for Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2022 and for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy knockouts recently.

Having scored a hundred in the quarter-finals and two tons in the semi-finals, Mumbai’s Jaiswal looked set for his fourth century before Madhya Pradesh pacer Anubhav Agarwal snapped him for 78 on the opening day – Wednesday – of the Ranji Trophy final here.

“Yes, I am a bit sad about it (missing the century), but this is cricket. You have to experience both the good and the bad [parts], and that is something I have learnt by now,” Jaiswal said after the day’s play. “Because in cricket, things won’t go how you want them to go. But, I am trying my best to improve myself as a cricketer and as a human being,” added Jaiswal.

In the recent IPL, Jaiswal was dropped after the first few matches but made a comeback into the Rajasthan eleven in the second half, scoring a couple of half-centuries. Ditto in the Ranji Trophy, where he was dropped in the group stage and then came back with a bang in the quarter-finals to score nearly 500 runs in total.

“The same thing happened in the IPL. I got three games, was out, and came back [into the side] after seven games. But, through the gaps (breaks), I had it in my mind that I need to work hard and be disciplined all the time,” Jaiswal said.

“Working [hard] every day is important, because it will help me become consistent. When I was dropped from the eleven in the IPL, I worked with Zubin sir (Zubin Bharucha, director of cricket at RR) every day and trained really well with the support staff. Zubin sir kept me motivated all the time,” Jaiswal spoke with loads of gratitude.